Mike Tyson lost his famous pet tiger after the white Bengal tried to eat his neighbours’ dog.
The boxing legend was convinced into buying the wild cat after coming out of prison in 1995 following a three-year stretch.
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Tyson is believed to have had three tigers in all, costing him over $US80,000 each at the time.
But, according to his former boxing manager Shelly Finkel, he was forced to give them up after one fateful walk.
Finkel, who SunSport spoke with in New York, recalled: “His house was between two houses in Vegas.
“And on the right side, facing the street was a famous Vegas performer. And on the left side was a businessman who had some dogs.
“Mike decided to walk one of his Bengal tigers, he’s walking the tiger, and the tiger saw the dog and scales the wall to go and eat the dog.
“The man is looking out his window and sees a tiger coming over the wall to try and eat his dog and Mike is pulling him down.
“He gets him off the fence and that night Mike calls me and says, ‘Shelly, the ASPCA is here, I’m not allowed to keep cats in captivity, how do you think they found out?’
“I said, ‘How do you think they found out? Your neighbor sees him coming over the wall to eat his dog. How do you think they found out.’
“That to me was my favorite story with Mike.”
Finkel managed Tyson right up until his retirement in 2005.
But their history dates back to when Iron Mike was a teenage amateur sensation.
And they first worked together in 1988 when Finkel brokered a closed-circuit pay-per-view deal for Tyson’s win over Michael Spinks.
But following the heavyweight’s infamous 1997 disqualification for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear, Finkel became his full-time manager.
He said: “It was one of the greatest trips of my life. The adventures with Mike Tyson were phenomenal.”
Finkel was in touch with Tyson as recently as two years ago, when the boxing icon made a shock comeback.
Tyson, now 56, drew over eight exhibition rounds with Roy Jones, 53, and talk of a trilogy with Holyfield emerged.
But following Holyfield’s painful beating against former UFC champion Vitor Belfort, 45, the plug was rightfully pulled.
This story first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.
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